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The Internet – how dependent are you?

I’ve been offline all week because someone decided to cut a copper cable taking down all the landlines and internet connection in the area. It took 3 days to get it back up. 3 days without the internet, how would we survive!?! I couldn’t blog, I couldn’t do lots of reading that I usually do and I couldn’t play Candy Crush…well I could on my Ipad but I had to wait ages because I couldn’t beg request for lives from facebook friends hahaha

Jokes aside, not having the internet for 3 days wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. It got me thinking how easy the internet has made life. If we went directions somewhere, we use RAF or Google maps rather than an A-Z. If we want information, we have access to millions of websites at the click of a button. Social networking sites like Facebook allow us to keep in touch with friends across the world. But are we getting too dependent on it?

It makes me sound old saying this but when I was a kid, we didn’t have the internet (until I was 14) and I think we were a lot more resourceful. I read a lot, I wrote a lot and when I wanted information I went through books looking for it. Although I’m grateful for the internet making things easier and more accessible, I’d be weary having my child online too young for fear of exposing him to things beyond my control.

A friend recently told me that her sons school were going to hold a class on how to use Facebook responsibly. Sounds good right? Except it was for 7 year olds!

With the sheer number of people who have access to your data these days, I think its important to be vigilant when it comes to our children. You can find tip and tricks for parents who want an active part on their children’s net usage here.

At what age would you let your child have their own Facebook account? Does your child solely depend on the internet for their homework and school projects? Or do you still use your local library?

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2 thoughts on “The Internet – how dependent are you?”

I understand your concerns about children having access to inappropriate material via the internet and that they need to be made aware of this early on. The internet is changing the whole world on so many levels. With information available at a click of a button we can do so much more creative with out time. I like the transparency thats being created – no more dark secrets and as we get closer, we get better. So, I think, things (from a planetary view) are getting better despite everything we hear on the news. With the shift thats going on towards a more sustainable future, thanks in no small part to the internet, I think our children have a wonderful future ahead on our beautiful planet.

Oh well done you! You are doing really well all thgins taken into consideration like sleep I hope that comes fairly soon. In the end, after 15 months of torture, I had to sleep coach’ Little A. And as for DNA evidence, my clothes are usually smeared with something by the end of the day whether it’s yogurt, snot or buttery finger prints! X.